Manchester to bid for young French international defender

Raphael Varane

Real Madrid may be looking to get rid of 22 year-old defender Raphael Varane, and Manchester United as well as a number of English clubs are ready to pounce, according to a report from a French news source.

The young French international is considered by many to be one of the top young centre-backs in Europe at the moment, but metro.co.uk reports that “Real may now be planning for life without him as they look for signings in that area.”

Varane started his professional career with French club Lens in 2010, and then joined Real the next year for a fee of around £7m. Successful in Madrid, the young Frenchman has appeared 144 times over 5 seasons, contributing 6 goals and a level-headed coolness to the defence.

The Spanish club are  third in La Liga presently, a point behind Atletico and ten off the pace of leaders Barcelona. Real and the defender signed a new contract in 2014 that would see him stay at the club until 2020, but with all the rebuilding that needs to be done, it’s definitely possible he’ll be playing somewhere in England next season.